‘Pilots, engineers should not limit themselves to flying, repairing aircraft to be employed’

MODIBBO ALKALI MAHMUD is the Rector, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria. In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE, he speaks on some of the ongoing projects in the school and how it would leverage these projects for human capital development. He also speaks on how pilots and engineers can secure employment amid scarcity of jobs in the sector.

About three years ago, NCAT was upgraded into a regional training centre of excellence (RTCE), while NCAA endorsed it as an Approved Training Organisation (ATO), what has changed in the institution since these upgrades?

This is an Approved Training Organisation (ATO) and we have been having renewals yearly and the Regional Training Centre of Excellence (RTCE) is a certification by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The benefit of this certification is that we can increase training activities like the ICAO training courses, conventional courses in the college. In 2021, we had over 50 courses conducted in this college in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic and we are still doing those courses. That will give us more visibility internationally and locally by having the RTCE. You cannot train if you don’t have the ATO. So, these are the benefits of the RTCE and ATO.

How do you think the issue of unemployed pilots and engineers can be resolved?

The college is for experience and knowledge. If we take in students, after a certain time, they are delivered to the public as graduates. At the end of the training, some will be pilots, engineers, cabin crew, air traffic controllers and others. When you go out as a fully graduated person with the certificate, you look forward to getting a job. The only way to get jobs as a pilot or an engineer is to get more aviation industrialization by having more airlines and ATOs. People can also work in the agencies and the ministry as a pilot or an engineer. It is not necessary that you must fly or repair an airplane. You can work in any of the agencies as a pilot.

For instance, Rabiu Yadudu, the managing director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), is a pilot; Fola Akinkuotu, the immediate past managing director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, (NAMA) was a pilot and same applies to Musa Nuhu, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Organisation (NCAA). Also, Akin Olateru, the current commissioner of Accident Investigation Bureau, is a pilot and several others.

So, jobs are out there, pilots and engineers should not limit themselves to only flying or repairing aircraft. The aim of every pilot is to fly, but when jobs don’t come, you can work in any of the agencies or the Ministry of Aviation. We look forward to the Federal Government opening more opportunities to aviators. Hadi Sirika, the minister of aviation, has the love of aviators in his heart and he has been doing great things to ensure that the aviation industry moves to the next level, especially if you have your own national carrier, even though it is not going to be 100 percent governmental, but that will give room for more employment, more competition with the other airlines.

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The aim of every pilot is to fly, but when jobs don’t come, you can work in any of the agencies or the Ministry of Aviation

NCAT recently took delivery of a fire simulator equipment, when will it be put to use?

The equipment is an automated fire fighting simulator, which gives room for simulating incident and accident activities that require fire. The fire fighting simulator is undergoing the process of certification; we are in stage two of the process and the NCAA is responsible for issuing certificates for the equipment. As soon as the second phase is completed, the machine would be put to use.

How come a contract for the construction of a fire simulator was awarded without provisions for access roads, power and fire tenders taken into cognisance?

The fire fighting tender (E1) we have is one of the best pieces of equipment you can find anywhere. It is so big that the fence and the access road and the culvert are giving more challenges for that machine to be used at that place and NCAT is coming out with another provision of a smaller fire tender, which I know before we put it to use, we will have another fire tender. Also, the electricity at that part of the college is being worked on. In essence, we are going to take electricity from the completed Boeing 737 aircraft and we will deliver it to the fire fighting simulator side. I think we are almost done with that.

What are your priorities for NCAT in 2022?

We are going to try as much as possible to conduct more training locally and internationally and we intend to get the certification of the automatic rescue fire fighting training provider certificate from the NCAA. Also, we are working on the B737 equipment certification. It is taking us longer than we intended, but we will try all our best to ensure that by March this year or April, we will have the B737 simulator equipment and put it to use.

You need to have the internationally accredited certification before the NCAA will now give you its own certification. For example, you must have the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or EASA certification and based on one of those certifications, will now issue its own certificate.

We are looking forward to being an Approved Maintenance Organisation (AMO). We started last year but put it on hold and we intend to continue. Hopefully, we will get the AMO certification this year.

Read also: How NCAT is repositioning Nigeria’s Aviation industry for growth in changing times

About three years ago, NCAT commenced an off-campus Post-Graduate Degree (PGD) programme in Lagos and Abuja, what is your assessment of the programme since you commenced?

The course was intended to be a year course in Zaria as a full-time course for participants, but requests from a lot of quarters, stakeholders and others, wanted it to be done at their doorsteps. We considered two places; Lagos and Abuja. So far, we are doing very well with the post-graduate courses.

The courses started in 2013 in Zaria but were extended to Lagos in 2019. Initially, when you look at the number of participants, you will be discouraged, but I can tell you right now, we have more than 100 participants. In Abuja, we have about 38 students and in Lagos, we had 100, but we lost one of them. So, there are 99 participants in Lagos. The programme is growing daily and people are applying and seeking for a way to get admission into the programme. The programme is tailored to suit your way of life. Most of those who participate in the programmes are workers, aviators who work in different establishments in the sector, but they still find time to take part in the programme. If you miss a module, you can always take it later. We are doing very well with the programmes.

To what extent do you intend to harness partnerships under your watch to move NCAT forward?

No man is an Island. Partnership is our second name. We will always partner with organisations in order to move forward. We are an active member of the International African Association for Approved Training Organisations (AAATO) and other international associations. Also, we partner with all the agencies under the ministry including military, paramilitary organisations and others. We partner with them and also send our people to these organisations to be trained on some of their technologies.

We also work hand in hand with the airlines. Every airline and organization that has anything to do with aviation comes here and gets trained. We also send people out to get more knowledge and information.

Some of the courses airlines send their staff to do outside the country are now done here at NCAT. There are courses we run for NAMA and NCAA. They are always here year in year out. Also, the NCAA and FAAN come here for training.

Since you were appointed the Rector of NCAT, what has been your major challenge running an institution like this?

Life is never straight; it consists of ups and downs, nothing is straightforward in life. We do have challenges here, but the most pressing issue here just like anywhere else is funding. The funds are not sufficient for our day-to-day running and the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is also inadequate. So, we try to see if we can get more IGR to carry out our mandates and expend them on our facilities and hostels.

I must apologize on behalf of the college on the condition of the hostels. I went out myself and I saw the state of some of the rooms. I called the Minister of Aviation myself and I said to him that the room he stayed in when he was doing his engineering program; the same building, room and toilet are still in existence. Some are 30 years old, but we are working hard to ensure that we renovate the ones that we can and then build new ones.

There is an executive hostel near the rector’s house, a contract has been given and the contractor is working to complete the hostel, which will be a very good one for our students when they come for training. Also, the contract to renovate the AA Hostel has been approved by the ministry. So, we will start working on it. We are going to make sure there are more standard rooms when next you come, and you will love the place.

Also, I must tell you that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved 150 new hostel rooms in the budget and another one will be coming in the next budget, which is for 100 rooms. So, we are working towards getting better accommodation for all our students.